Allardyce laments lack of squad depth

Sam Allardyce believes West Ham could have made more of their impressive start to the season, citing a lack of strength in depth as a factor in their poor form since Christmas.

Goalkeeper Adrian was the hero for West Ham on Saturday – the Spaniard saving Charlie Austin’s first-half penalty as Allardyce’s side played out a goalless draw with struggling QPR at Loftus Road.

Though he was pleased with his team’s latest display, Allardyce felt poor finishing cost his side – who have won just two Premier League matches since the turn of the year – the chance to claim victory.

“If we finish ninth with 50 points, then we’ve progressed from last year, and it probably just shows that we need a bit more strength in depth for next season,” said the experienced manager.

“It’s a tough game when you’ve got somebody scrapping for survival, so when you’ve got that you just have to scrap with them and then play when you can.

“We’ve had a number of chances to win this game, but failed to do so because of poor finishes and final balls.

“That’s been a factor so far, a lack of opportunity to finish teams off as easily as we did at the start of the season.

“Clean sheets have been a major factor – but we didn’t concede today, and on occasion we’ve played far better than this and lost, so today was more about the result, but I’m disappointed we didn’t take our chances.”